43 User Reviews of Fascination Cruise Ship

Hi, I just returned from a 3 day cruise of Nassau, 3-21-003 to
3-24-03. Nassau was a very nice port, I will be going back 2 more
times this year on Disney Wonder and Celebrity Millennium. The
Fascination was the pits! The only good things that I can think
about this ship that was good is: embarkment, the rooms are
spacious and the shows in the Palace theather(very nice). The ship
is dull and dirty. Dull colors through out the ship, whoever
thought of these colors must have been on drugs(orange&black).
The crew was unfriendly. The food was bland, the service was
OK.

How can you mess up cooking a lobster? The steaks were tough,
the soup watery, they rushed you through the meal, the grilled food
was OK (hambugers,hot dogs), the buffet was sloppy, not presented
well and the chef used to much wine in the dishes. The silverware
is dull and looks dirty all the time. I saw people eating all over
the ship. There was a plate on the floor in the Atrium,that plate
stayed on the floor for over 20 minutes before anyone picked it up,
I thought

that this was nasty. If you are a smoker, this is the ship for you.
To many kids for me, I know that this is a fun ship.

This is a depressing ship! Don't believe me try it! Carnival
needs to give the Fascination a facelift. This was a waste of time
and my money. If you are a first time cruiser, try Celebrity or
another line that is in the premium category. I will never cruise
Carnival again!!!

Let me preface this review with a basic overview of our family
type to give you some perspective of our opinions. There are five
of us - me (34), my wife (33), my thirteen-year-old son, my
10-year- old son, and my four-year-old daughter. My wife and I are
both originally from Iowa and currently live in Virginia since I am
in the Navy as a submarine officer. I will be honest, we tried
really hard to book a Disney cruise at the last minute due to my
job (hard to plan ahead in my business) but found Disney completely
booked for two months and so we apprehensively chose Carnival as a
second option. In short, we had a blast on our first cruise ever
and are already planning our next one. Carnival worked out to be a
great choice for us and we would definitely choose them again,
although I will probably choose another cruise line just to
experience some variety. I will give Carnival an honest review and
hopefully some other young family can benefit from it. I used the
Internet extensively in preparing for the great unknown of

a first-time family cruise and I hope to provide some lessons
learned.

Cruise Arrangements We used a travel agent and found that we got
roughly the same deal that everyone else onboard did. Many of the
people we met had booked online and were just as satisfied as we
were. The travel agent merely provided some peace of mind for my
wife and I since this was our first cruise ever. When I do it
again, I will book it online after researching the ship. Not all
cruise ships are created equal and I think that an important part
of the selection is to find a ship that has all of the amenities
that you want. We did not do this and I think that if we had it to
do over again we would have probably chosen a newer/larger ship.
Instead, we told the travel agent that we wanted a four/five day
cruise to the Western Caribbean and she came back and quoted us a
price on the "FASCINATION" out of Miami. The quote was for $1409
for two staterooms (there were no more cabins available that sleep
five and our cruise ship was fully booked) we had 6A cabins in
Riviera Fwd with an ocean view. My wife and I both agree that we
will never do a cruise without an ocean view since we both loved it
so much. Overall the ship was always clean and neat and I felt it
was nicely done. The mannequins have gotten bad reviews from
everyone but they didn't bother me that much, I thought they were
silly looking. I felt that the ship was well maintained and looked
good for an eight-year-old ship.

Pre-Cruise Travel We flew from Norfolk to Ft Lauderdale on
Southwest on Sunday morning (2/2/03) and rented a car and drove to
South Beach. We rented from Budget (49.99) and drove to our hotel
the Royal Palm Crowne Plaza Resort. I got this four star hotel from
Priceline.com for $75 and it was immaculate. Way too immaculate for
a simple man with three kids. I thought the hotel was great but it
catered to upscale couples, definitely not for kids. We still had a
great time but didn't really feel comfortable with the kids. On the
positive side it was a block away from Ocean Drive and we spent
Sunday night walking ocean drive shopping and eating at a great
Cuban Cafe. As usual our family made the best of it and made it a
great time. I would recommend the Roney Palace Beach Resort, which
was only a few blocks up the street and seemed more family
friendly. It also has a Budget dealer there to turn in the rental
vehicle. On Monday morning - Cruise Day - we got up, ate breakfast
across the street and did some last minute shopping, went to the
supermarket and bought the soft drinks we wanted to carry on board.
I turned in the rental vehicle at Roney Palace, walked back to my
hotel and the whole family took a taxi over to the port at 11:30
a.m. I recommend arranging a transfer with Carnival and not renting
a vehicle if possible. I spent well over $100 dealing with the
vehicle and only drove it for 30 minutes. A transfer from Ft
Lauderdale to Miami with Carnival is only $75 and less of a
headache. I used their transfer for the return trip to Ft
Lauderdale.

Embarkation Ensure that your travel documents are filled out
prior to arriving at the port since it is near pandemonium with
everyone arriving at nearly the same time. Also ensure the baggage
tags that Carnival gives you are already on your luggage and filled
out. We jumped out of the taxi and within 30 seconds baggage
handlers and Carnival employees had our luggage and were directing
us inside to the terminal. We walked in and passed through security
and then checked in. We showed them our filled out travel documents
and were making our way to the ship within 5 minutes. The process
was fast and professionally done by Carnival (as long as you come
prepared it will be a painless experience). I recommend getting
there early, our time seemed perfect and the ship is open with
dining etc as soon as you board. We were on the ship by 12:30 pm,
found our cabins immediately, and then went and had a leisurely
lunch at the Coconut Grove restaurant. My only complaint was that
we expected a pull down bed for my four-year daughter in our
stateroom and there was none. There wasn't even a bed for her at
all when we first arrived. I immediately called the info desk and
they had a rollaway bed sent down. Not the best since it got in the
way a bit and made the stateroom seem somewhat cramped at times but
it in no way deterred us from having fun. My feeling is that ocean
view rooms don't have pull down bunks and that they are only
available in the inner rooms without a view. We gladly traded a
rollaway bed to have a room with an ocean view.

Dining The part that made my wife and I the most nervous was
what to bring for the dining room. We did not want to be
underdressed but we didn't want to pack a lot of useless clothes
either. Basically anything goes like the brochure says except for
shorts and T-shirts except for our night in Cozumel where the dress
is causal and anything goes in the dining room. We went out and
bought our boys new clothes just for this trip and it was not
necessary although they did enjoy dressing up. We wore shirts and
ties every night (I added a sport coat on formal night) and we were
definitely among the nicer dressed people in the dining room. Don't
sweat it, there are all types onboard and the main thing is to have
fun. I do recommend dark colored clothing for formal night. Some
tuxedos were there but most men wore dark suits or sport coats and
the women ranged the same. The most memorable experience from our
cruise is from the dining room so I encourage everyone, even those
with kids to eat in the formal dining room and don't give in to the
temptation to stick to casual and eat in the other restaurants
onboard. Carnival also did a great job of pairing up dinner
partners. The other folks at our table were also a family of five
from Chicago and we got along great and spent most of the cruise
doing things together. Our dining room stewards (Joaquim from India
and Wayan from Indonesia) were OUTSTANDING in every way. The best I
have seen and I have been to a lot of fancy Black Tie dinners being
a Naval Officer. They were great with the kids and were
professional in every way. Fun Fun Fun!!! I left them both a big
tip and they deserved every penny of it. The food was great I had
everything from Escargot to Filet Mignon and loved it all. They
also had a kid's menu with the standard Cheeseburger, Pizza, and
Chicken Nuggets for the little ones.

Ports Key West is beautiful and is, basically, a shopping
excursion because of the limited time in port. We didn't enjoy it
all that much and would have rather had more time in Cozumel. It
was neat to walk around for a couple of hours but nothing
memorable. Cozumel is a paradise! We took a taxi to Chankanaab
Beach for $10 - a National Park in Mexico. The admission was an
additional $10.00 US per person - (children 8 and younger are
free). There is a beach, with AWESOME snorkeling opportunities, a
jungle trail with Mayan ruins, a lagoon, swimming with dolphins, a
Sea Lion Show, and great tropical drinks you can drink out of
coconuts or pineapples. The shad cabanas are free, with lounge
chairs underneath. They rented snorkel equipment for $6 a set and
also had scuba gear available. We had a terrific time and got some
great pictures. We spent the entire afternoon snorkeling and had a
blast. This is a tropical paradise! Carnival offers a lot of shore
excursions and they seemed a bit pricey since the Swim with
dolphins was $85 a person and it took place at the same place,
Chankanaab Beach, that we went to on our own for a lot less money.
The shore excursions are probably a little more convenient and for
younger couples, looking for adventure, they may be worth it, but
for a family guy I found it easy to go it on my own. Taxis were
abundant and no problem at all. I spent the day at Chankanaab for
$68 with taxi, vice the $200- $400 I would have spent with
Carnival. Later that evening, we took the kids to eat on the ship
and then took a taxi to downtown Cozumel, $6, to shop. This was
also a fun time. My boys wanted to barter with the locals for
souvenirs and they got their wish. Don't pay the asking price for
anything. We argued and delayed and drove down the price on
everything we bought. There is also a lot more commercialism here
than I expected but still a fun time. Really hard to tell if you
are actually getting a good deal since it is so commercialized,
lots of jewelry stores (Diamonds, Emeralds, Tanzanite, etc.) but
not at what I thought of as rock bottom prices but I am no expert
jeweler. Our only regret was that we didn't have more time in
Cozumel. We lost some time since the ship had to anchor out due to
port loading and we had to take small water taxis (free) to the
island which was slow and we didn't get Cozumel until nearly 2:00
PM although the ship arrived at 12:00 PM. We had to be back onboard
by 10:30 PM ship time and we definitely felt rushed to get all of
our shopping done on time. If I had it to do over again, I would
not have come back to the ship for dinner but would rather eat in
town and save time.

Cabin We were on the Riviera Fwd deck. We had an ocean view
window with both cabins and loved it, maybe a verandah next time
but not with the kids. The spaciousness is fine but remember I am
used to a submarine. Actually we were amazed at how much room we
did have and it was always clean and comfortable. If a family of
five goes on a cruise to spend their time in a cabin, then they may
want to re-consider! Our Cabin Steward kept the cabin clean - each
time we left, he serviced it, but we did not find him to be very
friendly - I never even met him and although he did his job, he
never really interacted with us and was impossible to get a hold
of. We tried continuously to call him to get a lifejacket for my
four year old and never succeeded. One of the only disappointments
on the trip since I had read from previous cruise reviews that the
room stewards help make the cruise experience more fun. He did make
cute animals out of the towels every night while he turned down the
beds. We only left him a small tip- other than what we already put
on our Sail & Sign Card - because he just didn't impress us. I
do appreciate Carnival's attention to detail in the cabins - even
with a sold-out ship!

Photos One of the fun things for us was the photography. Our
family is always on the go and we rarely take time to get the whole
family in the picture. Carnival uses every opportunity possible to
snap family photos and we ended up buying a bunch. The quality -
though not really studio quality - is good and worth the $19.95
charge for an 8 x 10.

Camp Carnival We never used the services that Camp Carnival
provided and it seemed that most of the kids onboard also chose to
do their own thing. As we look back on it, we were so busy doing
stuff as a family that we don't even know when our kids would have
used it. The only time it would have been convenient would have
been the night we went to the Casino. The activities seemed a
little too simple for the kids and my boys did not seem interested
at all so I did not force it on them. They also spent a few hours
at the onboard video arcades; they had two that were pretty good.
Bring lots of quarters. Most of the time was spent poolside using
the waterslide or ping-pong tables. The fourteen-year-old boy that
was at our dinner table used Camp Carnival extensively and seemed
to have a good time. I think that Carnival could probably improve a
bit in this area but it did not affect the good time that we had,
our kids had a blast just hanging with mom and dad poolside or
throughout the ship.

Onboard Activities I thought that Carnival did a great job at
keeping things lively on the ship. There was always something to do
and we were on the go for four days. We kept so busy that the week
flew by and we were exhausted by the time we got home. The only
complaint my kids had was that they were excluded from directly
participating in any of the activities not associated with Camp
Carnival, all regular shipboard activities were for 18 and older
which is understandable from Carnival's point of view but probably
gives a cruise line like Disney the edge for families. I used the
exercise facilities religiously to work off all the food that I
ate. They track topside was nice and fun to jog on at-sea. The
weight room was nice also and had plenty of equipment and was never
crowded when I was there. The two Las Vegas style revues were good;
not my thing but my wife and four year old daughter loved them. I
enjoyed the comedians and even took the kids to the family night
comedy routine.

Debarkation Don't rush, Carnival tells you to get to your
designated area by 0830 but we ate a leisurely breakfast and got
there at 0900 and did just fine. We were off the ship by 1000. The
luggage was in a big warehouse separated by tag color and it was a
bit of confusing finding it all but not bad. Customs was a breeze
and we were on a Carnival provided bus to Ft Lauderdale airport
($15 each) in a matter of minutes.

This was my first cruise. It was a great experience. But I am a
more sophisticated traveler not to sound snotty or anything. The
carnival cruise was just to see how a cruise was and I think it set
a good impression on me. Now i want to go on so many more! We
stayed in a category 11 suite which was a regular stateroom with a
small balcony. Little noise was heard except loud kids passing
through the halls. The food was great but a little too upscale for
the kind of cruise it was.

Sometimes the food tasted a little stale but overall the food
was good. The pool was always very crowded. The shows were great
but I thought there could be a little more of them. The cruise
director was very attentive to my needs. If you got a suite on the
ship you dont have to wait in embarkation lines. You go into their
private office, they make sure all your information is correct and
youn proceed past the hundreds of people waiting in line. And you
get to go on the ship immeditely. You

dont wait for anybody! Our cabin maid was very very nice!!!

The public bathrooms were really cool! And the bathrooms in your
room were bigger than i thought they would be! The dinner crew
rushed you through dinner a lot but they were nice. When
debarkation rolls around it is a mess!!! Get out while you can!
Overall I would give the cruise a 2 out of 5.

The set-up: This was our sixth cruise, our fourth on Carnival,
and our first four-day itinerary.

First Impressions

For a quick getaway, the Fascination four-day sailing is a good
choice if you adjust your expectations before leaving home. As most
cruise-heads know, the threes and four-day ships tend to be the
older ones in a cruise line's fleet, and the Fascination was no
exception. I don't know what Carnival's refurbishing plans are for
this ship, but she looks in need of some TLC, and a good
dry-docking would be just what the doctor ordered.

It was interesting to finally cruise on an 'older' ship. I
believe the Fascination is only eight years old, but considering
how quickly the cruise lines are pumping out new ships, eight years
is comparatively old. And it shows in the public spaces, lounges,
and especially the atrium, which pales in comparison with the other
two Fantasy-class ships we've experienced (the Paradise and the
Elation).

The theme of the Fascination is essentially 'Hollywood,' and it
didn't occur to me that the omnipresent mannequins are supposed to
represent stars in their perpetual but fading glory. I initially
thought they were there to

model the formal wear that is available for rental. Quite honestly,
after the second day, they were starting to give me the creeps. But
hey, I'm not going to let some creepy mannequins ruin my vacation!

Keeping it Clean

The crew did an above-average job of keeping things neat and
clean, and our cabin steward did a fantastic job with the room. He
was among the best we've ever had, very friendly and efficient. To
me, this is one of the key aspects of good service on a cruise, and
it was nice to get that level of service on a ship that is clearly
not the jewel of the fleet. Perhaps the cabin stewards start out on
the lesser ships and get promoted up to the newer ones. If that's
the case then I hope our cabin steward gets a promotion.

Time to Eat!

The food was pretty much standard Carnival fare -- not bad, but
not as good as other ships in the fleet, and definitely not on par
with Celebrity, our favorite line and favorite cruise overall.
Breakfast and lunch on the dependable Lido Deck were good, no major
complaints. Although I noticed they weren't as generous with the
toppings on the ever-popular pizza as on the Paradise and the
Elation; I've had Totino's pizzas with more stuff on them! But hey,
I'm not going to let a sparsely topped slice of pizza ruin my
vacation!

The best thing I had for dinner in the dining room was the rack
of lamb -- seasoned just right and presented so that it was as
pleasing to the eye as it was to the palette. Among the more
forgettable entrees was the usually dependable prime rib, which
should've been served with a chainsaw. But the worst thing by a
long shot was the lobster entree on formal night. It had the same
texture as mashed potatoes! Neither my wife nor myself ordered it,
but our waiter offered one to us midway through dinner, and we took
him up on the offer, much to our dismay. But hey, I'm not going to
let a lousy lobster ruin my vacation!

The Weather Channel

We were set to sail on the tail end of Hurricane Isadore, and in
the days before we left for Miami, I was in constant contact with
Carnival to check on the status on the cruise. We weren't sure if
Carnival would divert us to an alternate itinerary, even up to the
moment we arrived at the Miami airport. (It would've been fine with
us if they had; I just like to know ahead of time.) But we got the
word as soon as we walked off the plane that the cruise was on as
planned, so we were excited at the prospect of not just a cruise,
but an adventure -- and an adventure we got!

The weather in our first port, Key West, was perfect, and we had
a wonderful time. Let's move on to that evening, which was the
second night. After nearly choking to death on that lousy lobster,
we strolled the outside decks enjoying the breeze and a view of the
evening sky sans stars, and we started to wonder what the night's
weather would have in store for us. We started to feel that it
might be a bumpy ride, and we were right. But hey, I'm not going to
let a little bad weather ruin my vacation!

Quick Note: On four of our five previous cruises, we've usually
had a mid-ship cabin, but this time, we were in cabin V8, the
forward-most inside room on the highest passenger deck (Verandah).
I chose this cabin for its proximity to the observation deck, which
was just two steps away, and because all the suites and mini-suites
were sold out, and this was the closest thing to us having a
balcony that was available. But hey, I'm not going to let not
having a balcony ruin my vacation!

Fast-Forward to 2:30 a.m.: Due to the weather, and the fact that
our cabin was at the front of the ship, we woke up to the
slightly-more-than-gentle motion of the ocean. As my wife was
digging for the Dramamine, she asked if I would 'take a peek
outside and see what it looks like." Since we were close to the
observation deck, a weather update was right outside the door, so I
ventured out for a firsthand account. Now I'm not a weatherman, and
I don't play one on TV, and I'm not sure if we were technically in
gale-force winds, but they might as well have been! I felt like
Mark Wahlberg in the Perfect Storm as I was getting blown backwards
while doing my best impression of a mime walking against the wind,
trying to get to the rail so I could watch the waves crash against
the side of the ship. I finally did, and that was pretty cool. But
hey, I'm not going to let a little wind ruin my vacation!

I figured we were in about 10-12 foot seas, although I never
bothered to find out. I also had a chilling feeling as I wandered
from bow to stern along the outside decks when I realized I was the
ONLY person out there. But how often do I get to do something that
crazy at three o'clock in the morning? It was very exciting to feel
the ship moving that much, because all of our previous cruises were
in pretty much prefect weather. Isn't that why we cruise in the
first place, to live life on a ship for a few days? It always
amuses me when I see someone freaking out because the ship is
moving a little, and they say, 'Did you feel that?' or 'Oh my God,
is the ship moving?' I've got a good friend who said it best: 'If
you don't want to feel anything move, the go to a Holiday Inn!'

After 30 minutes of wandering around outside, and a quick stop
at the Internet Cafe to send my friends a "farewell to all" e-mail,
I returned to the cabin. We both slept like babies until 10:30 the
next morning, when the cabin steward woke us up knocking on the
door wanting to clean the room.

Cozumel: We were only an hour late getting into Cozumel, and it
was impressive watching the Captain and the Harbor Pilot port the
ship in the chop that was still rocking the ship by time we got
there. Once we got on land, we had a great time despite the wind
and rain. We ate lunch at our favorite restaurant (Poncho's) and
shopped our way back to the ship. Almost all of the excursions were
cancelled that day - not that it mattered to us - but I'm sure a
good time was had by all.

The Bottom Line

A four-day cruise is very different from a seven-day cruise, and
if you are prepared for this going in, you'll have a great time. I
kept referring to several things that I wasn't going to let ruin my
vacation for a reason. Setting your expectations is key to
achieving maximum enjoyment from any type of vacation, and our
expectation for this cruise was not to be blown away by five-star
cuisine and award-winning Broadway shows. If I wanted that, I
would've gone back to Celebrity (if they did four-day cruises, but
they don't). We were simply looking to get out of Dodge for a few
days, and the Fascination did a great job of providing us with an
escape from the everyday world. And with pricing as ridiculous as
it is right now, there was hardly any way that I could complain
when all we paid was $199 a person for four days of fun!

Our room was category 6 and was large and adequate for the two
of us. We had the room steward make the two twin beds into one
single.

The service was excellent. This was mostly because of the
wonderful room steward.

The entertainment was excellent.

The shore excursions were great. However, when in Mexico, avoid
anything not bottled in the US, unless it has some alcohol. To be
safe, stick with the Coronas, or mixed drinks, which are free in
many places.

Packing suggestion - skip the jeans, both men and women. They
are too hot during the day and not appropriate for evening wear.
T-shirts and shorts are also not appropriate for evening wear.

Men - light weight shorts and t-shirts for days, then light
slacks with either an open collar or polo shirt for evenings.

Women - very casual light weight shorts and about any style top
for days, then either a casual dress or light slacks and blouse for
evenings.

Plan one formal evening with the men wearing a sport coat and
button down shirt with tie,

and women wearing a street length dress.

Bring comfortable shoes - boatshoes, sandals, or sneakers for
most day wear.

Do not forget sunglasses, swimwear, sunhat or visor, and
sunscreen.

Overall, this was a wonderful memorable cruise and we will go
again, probably with Carnival.

This was our 4th cruise and least enjoyable of the 4. The
postive things about our cruise are the following: Camp Carnival -
our 7 year old loved it and would have lived there if we had
allowed him. Our room was kept clean and towels were changed out as
often as needed. Just don't try to speak to the cabin steward. Our
dining room experience was great. Other than all these, we were a
little disappointed. Our cabin steward was unfriendly and didn't
even try to be courteous. It must have been nearing the end of his
Carnival contract and he didn't care.

Gratuities were billed to our account before we even had our
first meal or met our cabin steward! Needless to say, we were not
happy when told we had overexceeded our balance 15 minutes after
leaving $100 at the pursers desk. The entertainment was okay,
certainly being our least favorite of our 4 cruises. The
commercialism of this ship about drove us crazy! We've never felt
so much pressure about spending money on any ship as we did the
Fascination. A bit much when you think a

cruise is suppose to be all inclusive. Other than this, we tried to
make the most of our vacation; however, but we will never cruise
the Fascination again and maybe not even Carnival - not sure at
this point. Hope this helps when planning your cruise vacation.

Room: 9, (E99) Large and adequate. Had the Room Stewart make the
two twin beds into one single.

Service: 10, Room service in a flash!

Ship: 7, Needs some carpet cleaning. Dump the manikins.

Entertainment: 10, Catch "2 Slick" in the Passage To India
Lounge. They are a riot!

Of particular interest to us is that we stayed at the Wyndham
Airport Hotel the night before we cruised. They have a desk in
their lobby that is manned by Carnival people. You can do all your
document check-in and baggage inspection right there at the hotel.
This avoids the huge crowd at the dock. A bus takes you from the
hotel to the dock. Your bags are off loaded from the bus and on
their way to your cabin. 20 minutes through security and we are on
board. The cost was $10.00 per person. There may be other hotels
with similar service so you may want to check around. We booked the
Wyndham through Price Line.com for $50.00.

Ports:

Key West.

Nice, but not enough time on shore.

Cozumel. We took the "Passion Island" excursion. This beach,
according to the tour guide is where they filmed the Corona Beer
Commercials. The beach was beautiful but not good for snorkeling.
All the free ice cold Coronas and rum drinks you can handle. The
stores in Cozumel are way to aggressive for my tastes. "Carlos and
Charlie's" is way too loud, too expensive and the food is not very
good but if you like drunks and noise, don't miss it.

Disembarkation: Quick and easy. Follow the directions and we
were off the ship in no time.

Note: There were lots of little kids on this cruise as I think
some areas were on spring break. We could not get in any of the
spas on Lido Deck. We were able to use the spa in the health
club.

This was our first Carnival cruise (second cruise overall) and
comparisons between our first on Princess and this one were
inevitable. However, this cruise was just as enjoyable as the
Princess. It just had different "flavor." I would take another
Carnival cruise.

Great cruise!!! On the ship by 12:15. Lunch was available on the
lido deck. My cabin was M47---my room steward kept the room in
perfect condition. The food was great--many great entrees to choose
from and delicious desserts. Ship activites included bingo, deck
parties, games (survivor and newleywed game).

Key West was beautiful-the trolley tour was worthwhile. In
cozumel I chose the sub ocean view tour. Good views of tiger fish
and stingray. Went by myself and always had something to do and
never felt alone.

About me: Married male, age 32, travelling with spouse. This was
my 4th cruise, 2nd on Carnival. Previous cruises on Carnival,
Princess, and Royal Olympic.

Pro's & Cons:

+ Best Broadway style shows around hands down! + Ship in excellent
condition and well maintained. + Excellent security procedures on
ship and at port. I felt safe! + Didn't make too many ship-wide
announcements like they used to.

+/- Buffet food was real good but lines could get long.

+/- Cabin steward was very nice but didn't make up the cabin as
frequently as we would have liked.

+/- They sure managed to cram a lot of activities in on such a
short cruise! Many activities were a bit rushed though.

- Never saw the cruise director at any major events (such as
before/after nightly shows).

- Dining room food was mediocre and served in small portions.
Had to usually ask for a couple of entree's to feel full. Took a
while to get a second entree. Waiters mixed up some orders
occasionally. Not

much variety for breakfast.- Smaller pools closed completely and
the main pool closed too frequently. The pool deck was very crowded
when the main pool was open. - Carnival can be pushy about
merchandising. - Embarkation had very long lines.

Final comments: Great cruise for those new to cruising, people
who want to seriously party or just those with very little time for
a vacation.

Just wanted to share my thoughts on my first "real cruise" last
month. In one word it was FANTASTIC! I had read so many negative
reviews about Carnival that I was not expecting a good time. Well I
guess it depends on the person and expectations I guess? I flew
into Miami the day prior on a late flight and checked into the Days
Inn at Miami Intl. just for a bed and shower in the morning, got a
few hours sleep, breakfast and then checked-out. I took the hotel
shuttle back to the airport for the Carnival transfer to the ship.
I was greeted in the baggage claim area by a few very friendly gals
who were Carnival reps. They assisted me with getting my bag sent
directly to the ship and shortly they escorted us to the waiting
motor coach buses to take us to the port. We arrived at the cruise
port around noon. Upon entering the cruise terminal there was a
crowd, but everything seemed to be very organized and lines were
moving at a good pace. I completed my check-in process and was on
board

the Fascination by around 12:45 which I thought was good! I will
never forget the first impression walking on board into the Grand
Atrium plaza! Was this a ship was my first thought? Yes it was
"glitz" with neon and glass elevators, but I like Las Vegas! I was
handed a small cardboard diagram of the ship layout and decks and
found it FUN wondering thru the corridors to find my cabin on the
Upper Deck! It was a bit overwhelming at first every corridor
seemed to look the same and found myself back at point A a few
times...but that was the FUN of it!

Upon reaching my cabin I entered and immediately saw my
pre-ordered Bon Voyage bottle of wine on the table! Ahh a nice
glass of vino to get me started on my vacation! After a few sips
and some small unpacking of my carry on I grabbed my camera and
started my self tour of my new home away from home! I ended back at
the Grand Atrium and after only a few minutes there snapping a few
shots heard my name called...it was my friend and co-worker who I
was meeting on board! What luck...he was taking his daughter on
this cruise to celebrate her 16th birthday! We greeted each other
and then decided to head up to the Lido Deck to check out the pool
and get a view of Miami while having a few drinks. Time was passing
quickly and then the announcements started regarding our muster
drills. We headed back to our cabins to don our life jackets and
reported to our assigned muster stations...it was a GAS! After the
drill we all met once again on the Lido to watch the Miami skyline
disappear in the distance as we set out to sea. Bags arrived at our
cabins shortly after 5:00 and we decided to take a swim and skip
our assigned early seating at 6:15 in the Sensation dining room. We
opted to be casual the first night and after our swim had a casual
dinner in the Coconut Grove dining venue. Caught part of the
Hollywood review show pretty good! Next morning we arrived in
Nassau ahead of schedule. I planned on being on deck as we pulled
in for 8AM, but to my surprise when I arrived on deck we were
already docked by 7:00? Anyhow we had breakfast and then reported
to the Palace Lounge for our shore tour info. I had been to Nassau
before so I did not do the island tour, but my friends did so I
headed to Blue Lagoon Island for some beach time and they met me
there later in the afternoon after their tour. What a beautiful day
for the beach! Since it was our formal dinner night we had to get
back to the ship early enough to make our 6:15 dining time. This
was the best night for photo opportunities and since it was my
friends daughters b-day he had a special surprise at the end of
dinner, cake and singing waiters! Nice touch by Carnival I must
add! After dinner we went to karaoke in the Passage to India
lounge. They retired early and I decided to do a bit of casino
gambling and I was lucky! I won $400 on a quarter slot and then
another $80 on a nickel machine! Not a bad payout for walking into
the casino with only a $20 bill in my pocket! Later I grabbed a
bite at the midnight buffet on the Lido it was a Caribbean theme
with several island dishes buffet style and one carving station and
lots of goodies! Next morning we had breakfast as we watched our
ship pull out of Nassau for our Fun Day at Sea. Hung out mostly at
the pools on the Lido for the better part of the sunny day, had
lunch on deck and then later got ready for dinner. Tonight was the
Broadway production in the theatre...it was good, but left before
the end since we wanted to get as much as possible done before the
end of the cruise. Checked out the disco "Diamonds are Forever"
strolled the Promenade, gift shops, etc. trying to keep up enough
energy to attend the Gala Buffet at midnight! We made it around
11:30 they allowed entrance to the Sensation dining room for photo
taking only...I got my snapshots! Then they announced both the
Imagination and Sensation dining rooms would be serving the same
fare so we headed towards the Imagination since it seemed everyone
was at the Sensation! After a late night cap we headed back to our
cabins. Again, I wanted to be on deck for our arrival in the Port
of Miami which I did make this time at around 6:00 AM. Grabbed a
cup of coffee and sat on the top deck forward as the MS Fascination
pulled slowly into the port. It was still dark out and the skyline
was all lit up. Surprisingly there were quite a few "die hards"
still around on the decks. I think most of them had not even been
to bed yet? Well back to the cabin for a shower and then met my
friends for breakfast. We had to be out of the cabins by 9:15 and
to our assigned disembarkation locations. We were off the ship by
around 10:30 calling us by luggage tag colors. All the bags were
arranged very neatly by decks and was a "snap" claiming our
luggage. Plenty of taxis and transportation waiting outside the
cruise terminal. We were at our hotel and checked in on Miami Beach
by 11:30-11:45 all in all it was a TERRIFIC short cruise
experience! No complaints here about Carnival Cruise Lines! Kudos
to my cabin steward (Zhung), he was most friendly and always made
sure I was happy with my cabin. Not only did he always greet me
with a friendly smile, but any time I ever requested something it
was always delivered in a timely and friendly manner! I have
another Carnival booking scheduled for April 2002 and can't wait
for another FUN filled adventure!